Why Poverty? A New Digital Platform Brings Together Films and Global Debate

On Monday 5 November, the
Independent Television Service (ITVS) will air the story of Rafea, a 30 year old Bedouin woman living in Jordan with four children and a husband who is about to take on his third wife.
Solar Mamas marks the United States premier of the Why Poverty? project: a series of ground-breaking documentaries, and an accompanying digital platform, intended to ignite a global discussion about what it
means to be poor in the 21st Century.

Solar Mamas asks: Are women better at getting out of poverty than men? At the core, this is an inspiring film about one woman’s attempt to light up her world. Rafea is an uneducated Bedouin mother from the Jordanian desert. She gets the chance to go
to the Barefoot College in India, where women from poor communities around the world train to become solar engineers.

Then, join the Why Poverty? debate by following
@askwhypoverty and using the #whypoverty and #solarmamas hashtags or comment on the Facebook page. Because by talking about poverty and watching these inspiring narratives, we can come up with solutions and
change the world together.

Author

Amie Newman is the Director of Communications and Development for Jacaranda Health, creating East Africa’s first truly sustainable and scalable maternal health service delivery organization for low-income women.

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